2-3 Days in Amsterdam?
#23
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Thinking about the safety of your companions: Stairs are shallow and steep in the Netherlands. You may have thought of this, but make sure you book a place with an elevator (or two). Bathtub sides may be high and difficult to hike an older leg over so see if your selected hotel has walk-in showers/grip bars/plastic mats for bottom of tub to minimize slipping. Some hotels have a slight step-up as you enter the bathroom. Check to see if the room floor is level with the floor of the bathroom so tripping is minimized as well. Lastly, some European hotels like American hotels are switching to squirt bottles of shampoo, soap, etc. I like bar soap for showering so you may want to pack a small bar if you are like me.
#24
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Hi, thank you for the additional ideas! Our son also mentioned the Hague. We are going to have to pick and choose what to do in the limited time we will have, knowing that the Van Gogh museum is the top priority for our friends. And we will want to choose activities that complement what we will have done on the river cruise. The Museum of Dutch Resistance is of interest to me but not sure about the others in our group. (The Ten Boom house in Haarlem also caught my eye.) My goal is to lay out various options and see how things evolve.
I was having trouble seeing hotel availability (unless I wanted to book directly), and I think it's because our trip is a long ways off. Thanks again for your help!
I was having trouble seeing hotel availability (unless I wanted to book directly), and I think it's because our trip is a long ways off. Thanks again for your help!
You'll find better and cheaper hotels in The Hague and a calmer city without the crowds of tourists that mill around in Amsterdam. If you do want to stay in Amsterdam I recommend South (Zuid) and the Museum Area over somewhere within the canal ring. Also take into account that old, quaint hotels in the Amsterdam centre may have steep stairs.
The Hague has Mauritshuis, and the Kunstmuseum with its vast collection of Mondrian and De Stijl paintings
Last edited by menachem; Sep 1st, 2023 at 08:50 AM.
#25
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We spent a week in Amsterdam this last spring and enjoyed it immensely. Public transport there is excellent but the bikers are treacherous; many don't follow ordinary traffic rules so be aware crossing the street and one of them is turning right on a red just as you step out! You get used to it.
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#27
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You might actually want to stay in The Hague and day trip to Amsterdam (45 minutes by train from The Hague Central). In the western part of the country (Rotterdam, Delft, The Hague, Leiden, Haarlem, Amsterdam, Utrecht) our train network is more of a metro network
You'll find better and cheaper hotels in The Hague and a calmer city without the crowds of tourists that mill around in Amsterdam. If you do want to stay in Amsterdam I recommend South (Zuid) and the Museum Area over somewhere within the canal ring. Also take into account that old, quaint hotels in the Amsterdam centre may have steep stairs.
The Hague has Mauritshuis, and the Kunstmuseum with its vast collection of Mondrian and De Stijl paintings
You'll find better and cheaper hotels in The Hague and a calmer city without the crowds of tourists that mill around in Amsterdam. If you do want to stay in Amsterdam I recommend South (Zuid) and the Museum Area over somewhere within the canal ring. Also take into account that old, quaint hotels in the Amsterdam centre may have steep stairs.
The Hague has Mauritshuis, and the Kunstmuseum with its vast collection of Mondrian and De Stijl paintings
#28
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I "third" it. It focuses on personal accounts of resistance members. Poignant.
We spent a week in Amsterdam this last spring and enjoyed it immensely. Public transport there is excellent but the bikers are treacherous; many don't follow ordinary traffic rules so be aware crossing the street and one of them is turning right on a red just as you step out! You get used to it.
We spent a week in Amsterdam this last spring and enjoyed it immensely. Public transport there is excellent but the bikers are treacherous; many don't follow ordinary traffic rules so be aware crossing the street and one of them is turning right on a red just as you step out! You get used to it.
#29
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While in Amsterdam last November I stayed with my daughter at the Hotel Adolesce, a 2 star hotel in the Waterlooplein area. Normally I start at minimum 3 stars but this one had decent reviews on booking dot com. It was like staying at your great uncle’s home- a bit dated, but charming and very clean. The rooms were huge and ours overlooked a canal. I would stay there again even though it was a walk up and the stairs were STEEP! I booked directly through the hotel. Breakfast was just ok. If you stay in this area then have brunch at Dignitas across the way.
We were just across the canal from the Holocaust Memorial and also visited the Jewish Museum and Portuguese Synagogue which were in the neighborhood. One evening we went to the Anne Frank House. Tickets for the VanGogh museum were sold out so we didn’t get to do that. We enjoyed walking everywhere in the city.
After Amsterdam, my daughter had an appointment to tour Leiden University so we spent a couple of days in that city. Was an easy trip from AMS and would make a great day trip. We went for luxury and stayed at the Boutique Hotel Huys van Leyden. The hotel located close to where some friends live so I selected that location but I might stay closer to the center where there’s more boutiques and restaurants if there’s a next time.
We were just across the canal from the Holocaust Memorial and also visited the Jewish Museum and Portuguese Synagogue which were in the neighborhood. One evening we went to the Anne Frank House. Tickets for the VanGogh museum were sold out so we didn’t get to do that. We enjoyed walking everywhere in the city.
After Amsterdam, my daughter had an appointment to tour Leiden University so we spent a couple of days in that city. Was an easy trip from AMS and would make a great day trip. We went for luxury and stayed at the Boutique Hotel Huys van Leyden. The hotel located close to where some friends live so I selected that location but I might stay closer to the center where there’s more boutiques and restaurants if there’s a next time.
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Oh geez, that was quite a mistake. Thanks for pointing that out. We were impressed by the restaurant’s mission and the breakfast was also excellent and in a lovely setting.
#32
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Late last week, I called to book our GCT river cruise. We have done this cruise once before, and it was so good that we want to share it with some other friends. I used to teach history, and my husband reads lots of history books on a wide variety of subjects. Also, his father served in WW2 under Patton and landed at Normandy shortly after D-Day. He loved this cruise.
FYI, if any of you want to call Grand Circle Travel it works well to call soon after the phone lines open at 9 am....
FYI, if any of you want to call Grand Circle Travel it works well to call soon after the phone lines open at 9 am....
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